Keep That Faith
by Lioness's Heart
Summary: Beka has always been a mystery to Rosto, the one thing he couldn't have. When she comes to talk to him one day, they both have things to think about afterward. Both Beka and Rosto have a lesson to learn, about faith, and each other. Twoshot.
1. Part One: Faith

**Disclaimer: If it was mine, then I wouldn't be amusing myself by playing with Tamora Pierce's characters. So, in conclusion, it isn't mine.  
A/N: Well, for once in my life, I've written something that isn't angst! I'm pretty proud of myself in that regard, since it isn't often that I write non-angst anymore. But, anyway, the second part of this will be up in about a week. So, until then, enjoy, and don't forget to review!

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**Rosto the Piper wasn't used to not getting what he wanted. He didn't like to think of himself as selfish or anything, but he was still used to getting his way. He was strong-willed and cunning, handsome and intelligent, and, that being said, he had a very high opinion of himself.

Above that, though, was his vanity. With long, white-blond hair, ivory-pale skin, and extremely dark chocolate brown eyes, he was certainly a sight. He was lithe like a dancer, strong, and as fast as lightning. He was the Rogue of Corus, the King of Thieves. His very life depended on how well he could fight a single duel.

There was something that puzzled him, though. Beka Cooper, a recently promoted Dog in the Lower City, fascinated him. She had since their very first meeting. He had been enchanted by her in every way. He couldn't explain it, nor would he try. He had lost his heart to her without knowing it at the time.

Since then, though, he had come to realize what had happened, and he had let life go on. They were on opposite sides of the law – they could never really be, together, or in any other vaguely similar situation. They were equals: the Rogue and the Terrier, mortal enemies who just happened to live in the same boarding house. They were friends, as close as could be one moment, worlds away the next. Their opinions differed in many ways, but there was always that common ground.

Rosto thought she was beautiful. He had once heard her say to Kora that her looks were pleasant enough, but she couldn't really be considered pretty like Kora or her sisters were. Her dark blond, almost light brown, hair was almost like the smooth golden wood of one of his pipes. There was a warmth in the color that he didn't see in the many shades of blond that he had seen in Scanra. Her eyes, though, he would agree, were her most striking feature. He had never seen eyes that color before. There was an ethereal look to just the color, the ghostly blue-grey that he could only liken to the color of the snow in the afterglow of the sunset in the Far North.

It wasn't just her appearance that intrigued him, either. Her shy exterior hid so much. He had come to see that after getting to know her better. She was kind, sweet, smart, witty, and so much more. Her determination was second to none when it came to protecting those she cared about or the people of her City. He had also seen a loving side to her. She had not displayed it with another cove, but with her cat. She clearly loved Pounce; he was her friend and companion.

In some ways, this attraction he had for her did not make sense to him. He wasn't supposed to like her. He had been crooked most of his adult life, and here he was, falling in someone who was completely straight, someone who wouldn't change just to please him. Maybe that was one reason. There was just something about Rebakah Cooper that he couldn't resist. He loved her more than he would have thought possible now. Even though he knew he shouldn't, he couldn't help it. He _loved_ her, and he wasn't afraid to acknowledge it.

There was only one problem with that. Not only had Beka rejected him several times, but she was currently seeing someone else – a fellow Dog from Day Watch in Patten. She had brought him to meet her friends on their day off once. Rosto didn't like him at all, but that was something to expect, since he wanted to claim Beka as his own. Kyell wasn't that bad, but he had claimed Beka's affections, and Rosto didn't like him one bit because of that.

"Rosto?" He turned from looking out his window to see the very subject of his thoughts standing in the open doorway to his room.

"Hmm? What, Beka?" he asked politely. She smiled at him. She had known that she could turn to him if she needed a friend.

"I just wanted to talk to you. About Kyell, and something he said to me today," she said. He nodded his assent, watching her as she walked into the room and closed the door behind her. That was something she only did when she wanted to have a serious, private discussion with someone.

"If your man has said anything to insult you, I'll gladly flay him alive, if you wish," Rosto said softly, turning his gaze back to the window when he said that.

"No. Don't. He didn't insult me. And he's courting me, Rosto, it's not that serious yet," she told him. If only she knew what that was like for him, hearing that it wasn't serious, but it was serious enough that he couldn't make an attempt to win her without causing trouble for all of them.

Rosto turned back to look at her, hooking his foot around the leg of a nearby chair and seating himself in a smooth motion. His eyes never left her.

"Kyell said that you were jealous of him, and that there were rumors floating around that you meant to kill him. Are you that jealous of him?" she asked. Rosto raised an eyebrow as he looked her straight in the eyes.

"Am I jealous that he has your heart? Yes. Am I going to kill him over it? No. I may be the Rogue, but I ain't that sort of cove, Beka. I would never hurt you, and I know that dousing him, especially over you, would hurt you," he replied. "I just don't think he's good enough for you." Silence hung in the air when he said that.

"And what if I think he is?" She asked after a moment.

"Then," he said, pausing to rise from his chair and walk over to her. "Then, I won't object. I have found myself incurably in love with you, Beka Cooper." She gasped when he said that. "But I'll let you have it your way," he continued, his voice soft. He stood right in front of her now, looking down the two inch difference in their heights. Without thinking, he leaned down and brushed his lips gently over hers. He was about to pull away when she deepened the kiss, seeming not to be thinking about what she was doing.

When she finally did pull away, she was breathless. All of the air seemed to have left her lungs. She looked up at him, both pleasure and confusion sparkling in her blue-grey eyes.

Rosto backed up, never letting his eyes leave her face. He sat back down in the chair and watched her, searching for any hope that he might one day have a chance, if her Dog did not snatch her up. Somehow, he knew that there was still hope.

Beka looked at him with a strange look on her face for a moment, then turned to go.

"And Beka," he started as her hand touched the doorknob. She turned to look back at him. "Just because something seems out of reach doesn't mean it is. If you have faith you can get it, then keep that faith. If you choose Kyell, I won't stop you."

Beka nodded, still looking back for a moment before she left. She had much to think about, she told herself. She reached up to touch her lip as she walked up the stairs to her room. She had very much to think about indeed.


	2. Part Two: Finally

**A/N: Yay! Part two is up! And on Valentine's Day no less! Rather ironic, really, since I didn't even notice that I was going to put this up, though it is very fitting, with it being a romance, at that. Well, without further adieu, here is the second part of Keep That Faith - enjoy, and don't forget to review!

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Several weeks later, Beka Cooper walked back into the Dove in the morning after going to see Kyell before his Watch. She did not regret what had happened when she did that. She did not regret that they had decided to break their romantic relationship off.

It had happened over several weeks, since long before she had spoken to Rosto. Even before that discussion, she had seen the spark – which had never been that strong to begin with – begin to diminish.

And for that same reason, she wasn't hurting more than she had expected. She wasn't hurting much at all, if she was completely honest. She liked Kyell well enough, but they were better off as friends instead of in a romantic relationship.

She did not know if she was going tell her friends at all, and let them assume that it had ended when they drew their own assumptions. Most of all, she didn't want to tell Rosto, because, as much as she like him, she didn't want to deal with the 'I told you so' attitude that he had been showing for the last week or so. She wasn't even sure of the extent of her feelings for him, at this point.

As she walked up the stairs, she heard voices upstairs. When she reached the second landing, she saw Kora leaning against Rosto's doorframe. His voice emanated from inside his room, and whatever he said caused Kora to sigh and roll her eyes.

"You're hopeless, Rosto," she said as she turned and walked back to her room, smiling at Beka when she saw him. When she was halfway up the next flight of stairs, Rosto appeared out of his room, closing the door behind him. He walked over to the stairs and instead of turning to go up, he turned the other way, reading a sheaf of paper as he went down. That was unusual – breakfast would start soon, and Rosto always came…

Momentarily, she brushed it off, telling herself that he would be there, just like he always was. After letting herself back into her room and getting a few things out, she picked up Pounce, who had been sleeping on her bed.

_This is undignified,_ he murted at her. Beka ignored her cat's protests, knowing that he would forgive her anyway. Besides, when she started scratching him exactly where he wanted to be scratched, Pounce began to purr.

While she sat there, her thoughts seemed to run somewhat wild. With the end of her relationship with Kyell official, she didn't know exactly where she was heading, other than going on with her day to day life. That, she could do, but the fact that she had been giving this so much thought in the last few days had led her to the conclusion that, though it was over, there had to be someone else out there for her.

That was when her thoughts turned back to Rosto. He was a complete mystery to her. Why he even seemed to like her that much – or love her, as he had told her – was also a mystery. As the Rogue, he could have almost any mot he wanted, and yet, he was trying to win her. He had made her the prize, which normally would have insulted her, but in this case, for some reason, it just didn't. She didn't know why it was, but this time, she didn't mind.

A little while later, she was beginning to wonder what had happened to him, with his strange absence from breakfast. She had surprised her that she missed him so much at something so routine. It wasn't like she ever spent the whole time during breakfast even chatting with him. Still, his absence bothered her a great deal for some reason.

"Aniki!" Rosto's voice echoed up from the second floor. Aniki rolled her eyes and leaned in the direction of Beka's door.

"What, Rosto? It's breakfast time!" she called back.

"I need that report Katie gave you. Can you bring it to me?" Aniki frowned.

"Come up and get it yourself, you lazy cove!" Everyone snickered at Aniki's comment except for Rosto. There was a snort of disgust from outside, but no footsteps.

"But I have to go _now_, Aniki. I don't have time nor do I want to dig around your room until I find that report!" Rosto said. "You know where it is, and I don't. Come on, Aniki, I need that report!"

Aniki echoed the noise he had made earlier as she got to her feet. She disappeared from the room and headed to her own. As breakfast went on without her, the sound of things being moved and papers being ruffled loudly drifted into Beka's room.

"Here. I hope you're happy," Aniki said. The sound of her footsteps on the stairs was loud enough that everyone could hear her.

"Thank you, Aniki," Rosto replied. The group heard her footsteps coming back up the stairs as Rosto's retreated in a similarly steady rhythm. When the blond mot returned, no one said anything. Those who had stopped eating went back to their food, and those who hadn't continued to do so.

"Aniki, why didn't Rosto come to breakfast this morning?" Ersken piped up, saving Beka from asking the same question.

"Oh, he had something important to take care of in the Rogue. He said he'd be back tomorrow, and that he was sorry to miss breakfast with us this morning. Though why in the world he wanted the report he told Reed Katie not to bother about is entirely beyond me…" she replied. She shrugged and went back to the pasty she had been eating before Rosto had interrupted her.

While the others continued to eat, Beka got up and moved over to her bed, Pounce still in her arms, and looked out her window. She couldn't help being more than a little confused about Rosto. He was such a mystery sometimes…

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Hours later, Beka, dressed in her Dog uniform, let herself out of her room. As the door clicked behind her, she noticed the voices coming from the open door to Aniki's room. It sounded like Rosto talking. She walked toward the stairs but halted when she heard her name. She frowned slightly as she strained to listen.

"I don't know, Aniki," she heard Rosto say. "I'm beginning to think that it's hopeless and I should just give up…"

"Don't say that," Aniki said. "You know that it isn't. She told me and Kora that she and Kyell broke it off today. And she was fine at breakfast, and when she told us about it. I've never known you to give up so easily, Rosto." There was a bark of laughter from Rosto.

"I suppose you're right, but I can't help but feel like I'm losing her. And not just my chance with her, but our friendship as well. Ever since she started seeing that other Dog, she's been distant, even when she came to talk to me a few weeks ago. I miss her more each day, as I see her walk farther down a path that I cannot follow…" Rosto told his best friend. He sighed, but no sound followed after that.

Beka jumped when he appeared in the doorway, her eyes widening in alarm. Their eyes met, and she could see the shock in his eyes in finding that she was standing there, not too far from the door, and had obviously been listening. He stared at her for a moment before looking away. A pink tinge appeared on his cheeks as he turned to go. Beka stepped forward and stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

He glanced back at her, obviously still a little embarrassed. Beka said nothing, she only moved around in front of him and looked into his eyes for a moment. There was confusion in the sable depths until she smiled warmly at him and kissed him without any other warning whatsoever. The kiss was deep and warm, and somehow different from the kiss Rosto had given her just a couple of weeks before. When they broke apart, Rosto looked at her for several moments before either of them said anything.

"You should have kept your faith, Rosto," she told him softly, twirling a few strands of white-blond hair from his horsetail around her finger. "You knew it would happen eventually…" He just gave her a wicked grin before kissing her again.

"You're right. I should have, but if I had, then maybe you wouldn't have just kissed me," he replied impishly, his dark brown eyes twinkling as he looked down a scant two inches at her.

"Maybe you should have thought about that before you told me that I should go after what I wanted, old man," she replied teasingly.

"I'm not old!"


End file.
